Own Mainland vs. Rent Homestead

[JenniferAnneSL]

Hi all.  I am hoping some can provide advice/counsel.  I own two abutting parcels of Mainland (albeit in 2 separate tiers).  Because of the texturing and leveling restrictions, I am considering selling the Mainland.  I am not interested in profiting from the transaction, although I wouldn't turn it down.   I am wondering if there is a suggested "best" way to conduct the transaction.  

If I were to sell the mainland, I am thinking that I would probably want to rent a homestead full sim, although I would really like to have about 7500 prims and that does not appear to be possible.  It looks like there are half sims available with about 10000 prims, but then I have neighbors who may or may not be compatible. Either alternative seems to end up with a cost neighboring  that which I am currently paying as Tier for the Mainland.

A third alternative would to be buy something in the way of a homestead, but that looks extremely expensive and I am not certain as to whether there would be anything really to be gained by that.

At the end of the day, I want a tract of land that I can control -- meaning use, landscape, access and visitation, texturing, building, rezzing, placing skybox etc.  Essentially I want to be able to do what I want (within reason obviously) on the property, and not worrying about annoying others or others annoying me, and have prim availability to do something nice.  In truth I view the ground level as a woods/forest site with hills, walking paths, streams, waterfalls, niches for sitting etc, together with wild life.  If I went with a full sim, then I might use some of the area for water activities. I would want the entire area to be/allow for seasonal activities, coloring etc.  My home might be placed there as well, or I could place that in a skybox.   The entire area would be restricted to myself and my friends.  

I am probably being naïve/foolish or whatever, and, like usual, I am probably be overly ambitious and foolish, but these are my thoughts for now and why I acquired the Mainland to begin with.  Any thoughts, counsel direction or comments as to any of these matters would be very appreciated.  I hope this is the right forum to bring this to.  Thanks very much.       

[Ethan Paslong]

23 minutes ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

 I own two abutting parcels of Mainland (albeit in 2 separate tiers).   I am considering selling the MainlandI am wondering if there is a suggested "best" way to conduct the transaction. 

simply put if for sale in the "about land" window, transaction goes automaticly.

Be sure you'r gone before you set it for sale...

23 minutes ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

I am thinking that I would probably want to rent a homestead full sim, although I would really like to have about 7500 prims and that does not appear to be possible.

indeed a homestead only has 5000 prims, without option to more

23 minutes ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

A third alternative would to be buy something in the way of a homestead,

you can only really buy a homestead when you own at least one full prim sim

23 minutes ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

At the end of the day, I want a tract of land that I can control -- meaning use, landscape, access and visitation, texturing, building, rezzing, placing skybox etc.  Essentially I want to be able to do what I want (within reason obviously) on the property, and not worrying about annoying others or others annoying me, and have prim availability to do something nice.   The entire area would be restricted to myself and my friends. 

your wishes are only possible at a full sim or homestead .. renting would be the only option if you don't own a full sim yet.

Think most homesteads go between  7000/8000  L$ weekly now. ... of course a full sim for lots more

Edited April 13, 2018 by Ethan Paslong

[JenniferAnneSL]

Thanks for your thoughts.  I appreciate them.  At the end of the day, I am trying to weigh what would seem to be the ideal option, given what I am trying to do.  I am struggling to find an answer.  I thought/was hoping that those whose experience and knowledge is far better than mine, might offer some thoughts/suggestions that I should process.    

[So Whimsy]

7 hours ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

Hi all.  I am hoping some can provide advice/counsel.  I own two abutting parcels of Mainland (albeit in 2 separate tiers).  Because of the texturing and leveling restrictions, I am considering selling the Mainland.  I am not interested in profiting from the transaction, although I wouldn't turn it down.   I am wondering if there is a suggested "best" way to conduct the transaction. 

In addition to what was already said, you can also advertise your landsale in the https://community.secondlife.com/forums/forum/286-parcels-for-sale-mainland/
subforum. If you need pricing help look for parcels for sale that come close to your own. Factors such as waterways, beaches, roads etc will higher your lands worth while ugly buildings all around it, ugly ground texture or the parcel being in the middle of nowhere can lower the worth of your land.

7 hours ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

If I were to sell the mainland, I am thinking that I would probably want to rent a homestead full sim, although I would really like to have about 7500 prims and that does not appear to be possible.  It looks like there are half sims available with about 10000 prims, but then I have neighbors who may or may not be compatible. Either alternative seems to end up with a cost neighboring  that which I am currently paying as Tier for the Mainland.

There is only two solutions here and you named them both, there is unfortunately no middle ground for what you want.

7 hours ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

A third alternative would to be buy something in the way of a homestead, but that looks extremely expensive and I am not certain as to whether there would be anything really to be gained by that.

Not possible for the reasons stated above. You can neither own a homestead nor an open space region without owning a full sim at the same time.

7 hours ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

At the end of the day, I want a tract of land that I can control -- meaning use, landscape, access and visitation, texturing, building, rezzing, placing skybox etc.  Essentially I want to be able to do what I want (within reason obviously) on the property, and not worrying about annoying others or others annoying me, and have prim availability to do something nice.  In truth I view the ground level as a woods/forest site with hills, walking paths, streams, waterfalls, niches for sitting etc, together with wild life.  If I went with a full sim, then I might use some of the area for water activities. I would want the entire area to be/allow for seasonal activities, coloring etc.  My home might be placed there as well, or I could place that in a skybox.   The entire area would be restricted to myself and my friends. 

You are mixing up terminology here.

Homestead = 256x256 region. 5000 Prims. Can hold up to 20 avatars.
Full Sim = 256x256 region. 22500 Prims. Can hold up to 100 avatars.

Both are full islands, both are distinctly different in the Prim department as well as visitor count. There is no such thing as a Homestead Full Sim.

Back in the day when there were just prims and even when there were sculpties and prims, 5000 prim allowance could get filled up incredibly fast but with Mesh you can build incredible things without using up your prim allowance fast. I think you're far underestimating what 5000 prims can really get you. I've seen MANY homesteads so decked out I thought they were full prim sims but they're not!

 

7 hours ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

I am probably being naïve/foolish or whatever, and, like usual, I am probably be overly ambitious and foolish, but these are my thoughts for now and why I acquired the Mainland to begin with.  Any thoughts, counsel direction or comments as to any of these matters would be very appreciated.  I hope this is the right forum to bring this to.  Thanks very much.       

You're neither naive nor foolish. I think you're just at this stage not realizing the sheer amount of things you can do with a homestead's prim allowance. I know it seems low compared to the 22500 prims a full sim offers but it's really really not.

Back when I started I had trouble with the prim allowance on the 8192sqm parcel I had rented. I would run out of prims so fast. But times have changed. Now I own a 5408sqm parcel on mainland with a prim allowance of 1856 which is about the same as my old parcel had. But with Mesh....I have the ground level fully decked out with a fully furnished and intricately decorated house, loads of trees, animals, ferns and grass. It's a winter wonderland for sure. In the sky I have my store as I'm a merchant. The store isn't big but also decorated and made homely.

And guess what? I still have 756 prims available that I don't really know what to do with! Without Mesh I would have ran out of prim allowance probably by the time I finished the ground level without having any left over for my store *and* having 756 left unused. It's marvelous what mesh can do.

If you do decide to get a homestead, invest into low land impact mesh things. It makes a huge difference to place down a highly detailed mesh tree that is 2 Land Impact as opposed to a highly detailed sculpty tree that is 10 landimpact. If you place down 50 of the former you've used up 100 LI for a pretty big forest, but if you put down 50 of the latter you would have used up 500 Li. There's also premade mesh forests on the MP where 50 trees will have a Land Impact of just 40 Li or so!

By the way, prim allowance is what it was called before mesh, the term Land Impact pretty much replaced it when mesh was introduced. It's basically the same thing so don't get confused there.

[Klytyna]

8 hours ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

I would really like to have about 7500 prims and that does not appear to be possible.

Find a private island rental sim that's chopped into 1/8th parcels, rent 3 side by side, join the parcels or ask the estate rep to do so, 7500 prims...

Believe it or not, "problem neighbours" are less of a problam in the Islands than they are on the Madlands, Madlands is no rules... but Islands have covenants, if your neighbour is an ass, complain to the estate rep...

I'd suggest avoiding homesteads... They are generally poor value 7-8k L$ a week for 5000 prims, compared to a 1/4 of a full island sim 4500-5000 a week for 5000 prims, 8-9k for a half sim 10,000 prims, or get a full island rental 20,000 prims for under 15k if you shop around.

Many of the smaller island estates will do you a deal if you haggle, they would rather rent a full region for a modest profit than rent nothing at all, or rent a half and lose money on the sim.

 

[JenniferAnneSL]

Thank all of you for your insights and suggestions.  You have been very helpful.  Klytna, some thoughtful suggestions on 3 adjoining 1/8 parcels. Everyone's comments on the prim allowance (land impact) are interesting, I would have thought that 5000 would be a bit short and that 7500 would be about right, even with the mesh builds/landscaping. Syn, if that is the case,  then it seems that a full 256x256 homestead sim would work, especially given that I want it to be a forested area, with maybe my home there or in the sky.  A full sim forest with streams wildlife niches etc, if seasonal, could be very very nice I think.  I could alos add a surround also, is that correct?

 Am I missing something?

 

Jenn

[So Whimsy]

2 hours ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

Thank all of you for your insights and suggestions.  You have been very helpful.  Klytna, some thoughtful suggestions on 3 adjoining 1/8 parcels. Everyone's comments on the prim allowance (land impact) are interesting, I would have thought that 5000 would be a bit short and that 7500 would be about right, even with the mesh builds/landscaping. Syn, if that is the case,  then it seems that a full 256x256 homestead sim would work, especially given that I want it to be a forested area, with maybe my home there or in the sky.  A full sim forest with streams wildlife niches etc, if seasonal, could be very very nice I think.  I could alos add a surround also, is that correct?

 Am I missing something?

 

Jenn

Yes, you can add sorrounds and whatever else you want.

 

While Klytna's idea isn't a bad one it would give you less abilities as far as the land goes. If you do not rent the entire island you will not be able to get estate manager rights. http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Estate_Manager As such you cannot change the ground texture as an example. You will still be able to do most of what you want but at the same time, you will also have neighbours.

Honestly, if you do a bit of digging in the mp and ask around (feel free to in the Wanted section or the Home&Garden thread!) there's tons of people willing to help you find stores that sell the quality you want with low Li landscaping products/houses/furniture etc.

The mp does offer you the option to filter items by prim count. So if you type 'tree' and use that option to filter out all the trees that are between 1-5 prims that's helpful, you can then see which tree has the quality you want without having to sift through those that are far higher in Li. Or you could search for 'complete forest' and set the max prim count to 50.

A homestead seems to be the best option in your specific case considering what you wrote. You can rent these by the week, so if you find yourself unhappy there is nothing keeping you from stopping to pay rent and moving somewhere else and making compromises until you find what is perfect for you. We can only make suggestions after all, it's ultimately on you to figure out your best bet^^

[JenniferAnneSL]

Thanks again Syn.  I am seriously considering this.  And I understand the control issue. 

[So Whimsy]

1 minute ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

Thanks again Syn.  I am seriously considering this.  And I understand the control issue. 

Here, check out this SIM. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Paradise Bay/130/113/37

The merchant has several platforms up in the sky too to showcase products. And all this is done on a homestead Impressive innit?

[Callum Meriman]

On 15/04/2018 at 12:00 AM, JenniferAnneSL said:

Everyone's comments on the prim allowance (land impact) are interesting, I would have thought that 5000 would be a bit short and that 7500 would be about right, even with the mesh builds/landscaping.

A homestead really isn't as restrictive as you would imagine.

With some of the better 1 LI trees you can create quite a nice looking, and substantial forest on a homestead region, and with the savings in these instead of using 16-30LI trees, you'll certainly have enough for shrubs, flowers, weeds, rocks and also a few high prim details.

The biggest advantage for you seems to be that you will be able to fully control your ground texture to suit the season, and also have full landscaping (which is generally less possible if you share). Your control over entry conditions is also better when you have a region to yourself.

[Parhelion Palou]

Here's some of what can be done on a homestead (and this was back when the limit was 3750 LI):

The previous build did get to change seasons. This one didn't ... it took 6 months to build and changing seasons would've taken at least a month. Not shown is the beach, tunnel system behind the cliffs, Steampunk harbor behind a hidden door in the cliffs, and a lot more trees. With 5000 LI the ground would've been completely covered by grass/trees/plants/decor.

[JenniferAnneSL]

Wow.  Amazing.  I talked to another landscaper last night who strongly suggested that the Prim allowance would be too slim.  She also stated . She stated that homesteads were previously "open space) and were designed to be a quarter sim surrounded by water.  That seems to make sense, based upon full sim allowances etc.  The idea was to lower lag between sims and that unless you use it as an island with 3/4 of the sim underwater, it does not really work.  A quarter sim is not big enough to me for what I think I want to do, besides, I already have abutting quarter sims on mainland.  This keeps getting more confusing and more of a pain in the you know what.   

[Parhelion Palou]

Homesteads are new (compared to ancient times in SL). What's now called OpenSpace was previously called a Void region. OpenSpace has something like a 750 LI and 10 person limit. OpenSpace/void was mostly designed to *be* water -- a nice buffer around the estate that people could boat in. Homesteads have a 5000 LI and 20 person limit and work fine without any water at all  (though I'd never create a region without water). Some people run stores on homestead regions ... if there's not a lot of traffic it would work OK. I treated the one I rented as a true homestead ... it was my home.

[JenniferAnneSL]

Thanks Parhelion.  I would want some water as well, but likely not 3/4 of the homestead sim.  The issue for me is Prims, and I am getting mixed messages.  At some point, I need to just jump -- on way or the other.  Thanks gain.  Jenn 

[Theresa Tennyson]

4 hours ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

Wow.  Amazing.  I talked to another landscaper last night who strongly suggested that the Prim allowance would be too slim.  She also stated . She stated that homesteads were previously "open space) and were designed to be a quarter sim surrounded by water.  That seems to make sense, based upon full sim allowances etc.  The idea was to lower lag between sims and that unless you use it as an island with 3/4 of the sim underwater, it does not really work.  A quarter sim is not big enough to me for what I think I want to do, besides, I already have abutting quarter sims on mainland.  This keeps getting more confusing and more of a pain in the you know what.   

You should visit areas in Second Life that look like you want to make and see what platform they're using. Homesteads are often used for "scenic" regions and they work fairly well. The "Misty Mountains" and "Mirromere" regions at Calas Galadhon are homesteads, for instance, as are some of the areas Inara Pey blogs about. They all have builds that occupy far more than 25% of the region.

If you're planning on high traffic or a lot of complicated scripted areas a homestead would be a bad idea, but that doesn't sound like what you're doing.

[So Whimsy]

31 minutes ago, JenniferAnneSL said:

Thanks Parhelion.  I would want some water as well, but likely not 3/4 of the homestead sim.  The issue for me is Prims, and I am getting mixed messages.  At some point, I need to just jump -- on way or the other.  Thanks gain.  Jenn 

You are not getting mixed messages. So far nobody on this forum has stated that the prims would be too slim and that landscaper...shouldn't call themselves as such if they can't work with 5000 prims. Wtf.

Please do go to the SLURL I left in my previous post and be blown away by what can be done on a homestead. Mind you, that sim doesn't even only have mesh items but many, many sculpted items still.

5000 is more than enough if you opt for high quality low Li items.

[Prokofy Neva]

On 4/13/2018 at 11:30 AM, JenniferAnneSL said:

Hi all.  I am hoping some can provide advice/counsel.  I own two abutting parcels of Mainland (albeit in 2 separate tiers).  Because of the texturing and leveling restrictions, I am considering selling the Mainland.  I am not interested in profiting from the transaction, although I wouldn't turn it down.   I am wondering if there is a suggested "best" way to conduct the transaction.  

If I were to sell the mainland, I am thinking that I would probably want to rent a homestead full sim, although I would really like to have about 7500 prims and that does not appear to be possible.  It looks like there are half sims available with about 10000 prims, but then I have neighbors who may or may not be compatible. Either alternative seems to end up with a cost neighboring  that which I am currently paying as Tier for the Mainland.

A third alternative would to be buy something in the way of a homestead, but that looks extremely expensive and I am not certain as to whether there would be anything really to be gained by that.

At the end of the day, I want a tract of land that I can control -- meaning use, landscape, access and visitation, texturing, building, rezzing, placing skybox etc.  Essentially I want to be able to do what I want (within reason obviously) on the property, and not worrying about annoying others or others annoying me, and have prim availability to do something nice.  In truth I view the ground level as a woods/forest site with hills, walking paths, streams, waterfalls, niches for sitting etc, together with wild life.  If I went with a full sim, then I might use some of the area for water activities. I would want the entire area to be/allow for seasonal activities, coloring etc.  My home might be placed there as well, or I could place that in a skybox.   The entire area would be restricted to myself and my friends.  

I am probably being naïve/foolish or whatever, and, like usual, I am probably be overly ambitious and foolish, but these are my thoughts for now and why I acquired the Mainland to begin with.  Any thoughts, counsel direction or comments as to any of these matters would be very appreciated.  I hope this is the right forum to bring this to.  Thanks very much.       

I think you should look for other mainland with texture you like. Or use something like JVTEK to add your own texture on a sculpty, it looks very good.

Or rent a homestead and if you don't like it, leave. I don't have any openings on mine, but what I did was put up mountains so that the tenants would each have a 1/3 of the homestead, let's say, or divided further, depending on how many tenants there are.

So find a homestead landscaped without a view of neighbors.